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School clothes shopping | pad patter 8.14.18

LoveItScrapIt said:
We did school clothes last weekend. In, out, and DONE!!!
My kids are easy. Don't put up much fuss and don't care of about labels.
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I hope you're able to find stuff and get done with it all!
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You lucky lady! My son is easy, but my 2 girls are hard! Heck, I'm even hard to buy for when it comes to clothes. Nothing fits right and I'm way picky!
 
LynnG said:
UK uniforms are so easy!! I wish they would have that system here. Instead each school has its own VERY EXPENSIVE AND ONLY AVAILABLE FROM ONE SPECIALIST STORE ... uniform. Grrr. We bought the bare minimum and it was still over $1000 for our daughter.

She has one more year in uniform, then in her last year at school gets to wear 'mufti' ( as we call your own clothes). So we'll be clothes shopping before that. Luckily, unlike her sister, she is easy - although 6ft so might get challenging. Her sister has sensory issues over clothing and it is horrendous. Attempts to shop for clothes would leave us both in tears. She is happiest wearing my hand me downs!
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$1000 for 1 kid... WOW!

I told my youngest she get $200-$300 for school clothes, backpacks and shoes. Plus I'll probably spend another $50-$100 on calculators and school supplies.

My big kids will have to buy their own school clothes this year as the two of them are going off to their first year of college. I just dropped $650 each for their new laptops and by the time I get them setup in their apartments I'm sure I'll be at $1500 - $2000 each. Boy, Back to School time is expensive!
 
keepscrappin said:
I'm also going to need to go school clothes shopping for me. I'm starting a new job teaching computers at our elementary school next week. I think that calls for a first day of school outfit, don't you!
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Absolutely! How cool, I wish you the very best on this new chapter!
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Really, it started with my mom saying "I want you to figure out what your business style is", that's all it took.
 
Tree City said:
My dad would let us get whatever clothes we wanted. My mom probably spent more cuz she loved shopping, but my dad's philosophy on my clothing was "you want to wear it and look like an idiot, that's on you." LOL! My mom was more "You want to wear that? No. You'd look silly." As if she knew what was cool: she was old! :giggle
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I'm like your mom. I don't want my kids to look like idiots. I'm always being practical and telling them to get neutral colored shoes so they can wear them with all their outfits. I'm also the one that makes them get wrinkle free fabrics and look at the laundry directions because I like things that can be thrown in the dryer. I don't iron and I hate that so many things (especially t-shirts) have to be dried flat or hung up. I'm all about keeping it simple.
 
Sunberry2 said:
Back to school shopping was not easy this year. Normally, there's no problem. DS wears athletic shorts/pants and t -shirts, the occasional jeans. But since he outgrew his old pants, we needed to shop for new ones. This kid is tall and skinny though and none of the pants fit right (too short or too big in the waist). So I had to take what I bought back to the stores and I'll have to take him with me next time I go.
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I've had that problem too. My youngest is 12 and she is skinny like an 8 year old but needs the length of a 12 year old... the struggle is real. I'm so glad that some places have the adjustable elastic inside the waistband.

I wish they would do adjustable elastic on adult pants too. I have big thighs and a tiny waist. I hate the gap in the back and am always searching for the perfect fit of room in through the hips and thighs and a small enough waist.
 
@keepscrappin oh yeah, I'm with you on easy-care items. They can wear what they want (within reason, tho they've never tried to wear stuff that breaks dress code or common decency), as long as it can go in the dryer! I once bought a dress for DD and when I got home I realized it was dry-clean only. For a toddler dress. I don't think so! That went straight back to the store lol!

DD's fave color is green so she has green Pumas. To her, they are a neutral lol, so I just grit my teeth and let her wear them with pink or orange or whatever.
 
rdjrneace said:
Grandma here so I don't need to do BTS shopping but I did for me --- 2 pair of pants and 1 dress.
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Good for you! It's so nice to have some new outfits.

I wish the Grandmas were still living. My MIL used to take my 2 oldest school clothes shopping and even paid for 2 or 3 outfits. They were her only grandkids at the time... it was so nice! She loved shopping and my oldest DD has the shopping bug like her. They could shop all day every day.
 
I generally have good luck online- but my kids are still young & growing so I tend to buy just a tad too big & get more use out of them! ;) My daughter is just starting to get into clothes- but she's super picky- so we like to go to stores, find what we like & only buy there if not available online! My son on the other hand could give 2 craps about what I buy him- but he prefers shorts or pants & a tee shirt. We just went this last week & I would say we spent less than $200 for both of them & they should be good until they grow more! lol!
 
I agree that homeschooling and uniforms sound easier!

However, neither apply to my boys. They DO however fall into the category of "easy"- and mainly wear athletic shorts and shirts!

My boys are hard on clothes, and summer fun takes a toll on whatever they didn't destroy or outgrow during the school year. So I usually have to go shopping to make sure they have enough clothes that fit and aren't tattered or stained beyond help. One boy has 3 approved shirts, the other has about 6- so it looks like I need to purchase some of those. They will also get new underwear and socks as theirs are pretty worn. Usually Target or Walmart for the underwear and socks, and then I hit the nike or under armor outlets for $10 clearance shirts. They wash up nice and go with athletic pants, shorts, or jeans. This should happen soon, as school starts next Thursday... probably going to be a combo of online and in person.
 
meggersjm said:
I agree that homeschooling and uniforms sound easier!

However, neither apply to my boys. They DO however fall into the category of "easy"- and mainly wear athletic shorts and shirts!

My boys are hard on clothes, and summer fun takes a toll on whatever they didn't destroy or outgrow during the school year. So I usually have to go shopping to make sure they have enough clothes that fit and aren't tattered or stained beyond help. One boy has 3 approved shirts, the other has about 6- so it looks like I need to purchase some of those. They will also get new underwear and socks as theirs are pretty worn. Usually Target or Walmart for the underwear and socks, and then I hit the nike or under armor outlets for $10 clearance shirts. They wash up nice and go with athletic pants, shorts, or jeans. This should happen soon, as school starts next Thursday... probably going to be a combo of online and in person.
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Oh yes I love the Nike and under armor tees! We also need to go to Walmart or Target to get underwear and socks. My youngest loves to get bright socks and wear them mismatched.... she thinks it’s cool.
 
amien1 said:
I generally have good luck online- but my kids are still young & growing so I tend to buy just a tad too big & get more use out of them! ;) My daughter is just starting to get into clothes- but she's super picky- so we like to go to stores, find what we like & only buy there if not available online! My son on the other hand could give 2 craps about what I buy him- but he prefers shorts or pants & a tee shirt. We just went this last week & I would say we spent less than $200 for both of them & they should be good until they grow more! lol!
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$200 - way to go!
 
I put off Back to School shopping until our weather actually changes--they start the school year in shorts and T-shirts, and it's usually a month or so later that we start buying fall and winter clothes. As the parent of 2 kids with sensory issues and another who wears plus sizes, I'm so glad we don't have uniforms here!

We do a lot of online shopping, mostly because kids' plus sizes are only available online. I tend to stick to a small number of brands for each of the kids, that way we mostly know what sizes will work. The boys are easy--they want the same clothes every year, just a bigger size and maybe different colors. Almost all of what I order for them works out fine. Jeans for my oldest is the one thing I make him do in person, then after we find a style or 2 that he likes I order it in a few different colors online.

My daughter is so much harder. We have to order 2-3 times what she needs and then return the things that don't work out. Girls' clothes seem to vary a lot more than boys'. It's a pain in the neck to order and return so much, but in the end she's happy with what she has. I'm also lucky that none of my kids seems aware of brands--at 14, 12, and 9, they're still content wearing any brand as long as the items we buy are comfortable and fit their personal style.
 
Sunberry2 said:
Back to school shopping was not easy this year. Normally, there's no problem. DS wears athletic shorts/pants and t -shirts, the occasional jeans. But since he outgrew his old pants, we needed to shop for new ones. This kid is tall and skinny though and none of the pants fit right (too short or too big in the waist). So I had to take what I bought back to the stores and I'll have to take him with me next time I go.
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THIS is exactly why I HATE clothes shopping for my 14 year old. NOTHING fits him. For the last 3+ years, all he's wanted to wear is athletic pants and since that's all everyone else wears too, I finally gave in. Well, now he's switching to high school and I refuse to allow him to wear them to school anymore, but then I had to hunt for skinny/long jeans for him. Ugh. I finally did find some that were Lee brand that were slims and had the elastic cinch-em-up straps inside. I'll dread when he can't wear the big boy sizes anymore because then he'll have to wear a belt.

Even when I'd buy the athletic pants and shorts for him, I have to add my own elastic inside to make them tight enough for him. I have a metal sewing thing that grips the elastic and I weave it through where the tie strings go. If you have a tall skinny boy, it might be worth a trip to JoAnns to get this magical device.
 
Both of my kids will need shoes. Cole will need everyday wear shoes and Mattie will need tennis shoes for PE. Cole will definitely need socks (where do they disappear to) and undies. The rest won't be such a necessity.
 
We've never done back to school clothes shopping. I couldn't say why, it's just not something we've ever done. I buy clothes when I happen across them or when they need something Right Now. Most of their clothes come off the sale and clearance racks, because we shop during the season, not ahead, and the stores are always a season ahead.
 
how I love my boys! We go to ONE store
Burlington Coat Factory (that sells the best boys/mens clothes along with ladies)
We made a full day of shopping. Having a full lunch of carbs and RockSTar! for adults!
lots of laughter and hiding in the racks.
My oldest boy 13, was done in 30 minutes. I had to force him to get some joggers. (looking towards our cold winters)
My youngest says YES, YES to every bit I pull off rack!
My hubby even got 2 suits! He was so happy!
I managed to get a couple of skirts and shirts!
We came out with bags and bags and smiles. Ice cream for the drive home and it was a great day!
 
We get off fairly easy here. My son never cared what he wore and didn't *need* anything new for school. My daughter has gone to private school for most of her education and wears a uniform. At her high school, every item must have the school logo on it, so it has to be ordered through the school or Lands' End... easy enough. And I really don't order her anything new each year... it's a bit of a status thing, as only freshmen have all new uniforms. Also, the longer you've been at the school, the more team/club shirts you have that you can wear as your uniform so she rarely wears the basic polos that a lot of the freshmen wear.

The only fun thing they get to wear is their socks. So we are always on the lookout for fun socks. She should get new uniform shoes this year, but she's in a boot still and will be for the first three or so weeks of school... so we're holding off so she doesn't wear one out before the other.
 
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